Marketing and Communications Officer
| Posting date: | 11 February 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £32,089 to £32,724 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 09 March 2025 |
| Location: | GL16 8BA |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 390415/1 |
Summary
This post sits within the Recreation and Engagement team in West District.
During the first two years of the post, you will be focused on the Forest of Dean with 3 days a week working on the Cannop Ponds project, and the remaining two days marketing our main visitor sites – Beechenhurst, Mallards Pike, Symonds Yat Rock and the Forest of Dean Cycle Centre.
Once the Cannop Ponds project funding has concluded in around two years’ time, it is highly likely that your patch will extend to sites in the north of the district, notably Wyre Forest in Worcestershire, and the beat offices in Shropshire.
Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.
Where you’ll work…
The West England Forest District team are custodians of 38,500 ha of the Nations Forests in the west and south-west of England. Our woods can be found from Shrewsbury in the north to the majestic veteran trees of Savernake Forest near Marlborough, and the conifer forests on Bodmin Moor, and ancient woodlands of the Glynn Valley in Cornwall. The district is based in the historic Forest of Dean which lies between the rivers Wye and Severn in Gloucestershire.
Over two-thirds of our woodlands lie in protected landscapes, with two National Parks, and numerous National Landscapes and sites of special scientific interest. Our team sustainably produce over 220,000 tonnes of timber per annum, whilst providing safe homes for a wide range of wildlife from the common to the rare. We are proactively managing our woods to mitigate against our changing climate and the biodiversity crisis. We are passionate about welcoming visitors to the Nations Forests and encouraging everyone to enjoy our natural world in a responsible way, supporting healthy lifestyles and mental health.
Cannop Ponds Project Communications (initially 60%):
- design and implement communications around the Cannop Ponds project via social media, website updates and press releases - these communications will keep the public informed of progress being made on the project, from its history through to planning permission and construction
- work with the project team to deliver the engagement plan for the project - this will include supporting engagement events at key project milestones
- advise and support the project team on engaging with local communities
- work with the team on the social value plan for the project
- develop and maintain relationships with site partners and stakeholders affected by the project
- respond efficiently and effectively to ‘emergency’ situations as they may arise, providing professional communications support to front-line staff
- plan and create written content for signage and interpretation for the different stages of the project to help visitors to the site to further engage with our work
- monitor shared email inbox and work with the project team to respond to enquiries
Recreation Marketing (initially 40%):
- develop and evaluate the recreation hub marketing plan (including budget management) for the recreation sites in the Forest of Dean to support local and national objectives
- proactively engage with recreation hub teams to ensure national marketing campaigns are planned and coordinated
- deliver and support local marketing of the recreation hub sites
- support managing social media accounts for the Forest of Dean, Beechenhurst and the Forest of Dean Cycle Centre
- develop and maintain relationships with site partners to mutually support marketing and business objectives
- have an active overview of the recreation hub site pages on the Forestry England website, maintaining quality and relevance of content
- maintain and develop relationships with tourism bodies and stakeholders to promote the offer at our forests
- use market research and data collection to target a wide range of visitors across all seasons
- explore and support our emerging supporter development initiatives, such as corporate volunteering, individual giving and legacy giving
- promote good news stories and support key projects with activity including press releases, website updates and social media content
Other work as required:
- plan and deliver according to a yearly budget
- work within and as part of the wider district engagement team to plan campaigns and initiatives collaboratively. This requires attendance at local delivery team meetings
- support the internal communications function by supplying engaging stories for the district’s intranet and encouraging better internal communications through attending local delivery team meetings
- track and measure the impact and effectiveness of our communications and marketing, including outreach, event participation, media stories, etc
- develop and deliver compelling content to tell the story of sustainable forestry, from our work reintroducing and protecting wildlife to our drive to connect the public with nature
- help steer and plan public behaviour change campaigns, from littering to building unauthorised trails in our forests
And any other task reasonably requested by your line manager.
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